When people discover I'm published, most tell me that they've always wanted to write a book. Most want to know how
to get published. Sadly, most start with "what's your secret." My inbox is full of emails from aspiring authors who hope
I will read their story or mentor them. For legal reasons I have to return those stories unread or delete them from my inbox.
You'll get the same response from other published authors. But trust me, I know how it feels to get started in this business
and seek professional advice. I also know how desperately people want to see their name on a book.
The truth is that writing and publishing
are two different animals. Writing is about passion and creativity. Writing is about spending large blocks of time in solitude
crafting work no one will ever see until you stumble on that special something.
Publishing
is all business. Forget the warm and fuzzy stories. Publishers will only publish your book if they can sell enough copies
to make a profit. Most of the manuscripts editors find in their mail are poorly written and poorly formatted.
It is vital
that you do your research BEFORE you try to navigate the system. But beware - there are no shortcuts and 99% of the people
who say they want to be published won't be. Because they don't understand the steps involved, or take the time to get educated
on the process. There's a lot of information out there. I've compiled a few tips to get you started. Click on the links
below.
And by the way - there are a lot of scam artists out
there preying on writers like you. So do your homework first then run, don't walk, to a site called:
They keep track of publishers and agents and put their warnings in red letters so you can't miss the ones who are known
scam artists.
P.S. If a publisher or agent asks you for money at any
time during a transaction, that's a clue that it's not for you. If it's too good to be true, it probably isn't.
